Dhanam - An Insight

The negative opinions of Dhanam's audio should have been expected. What made me a raja fan were those complicated yet endearing orchestration that you hear in Dhanam's songs. Its easy to just say its a album showing occasional raja prowess. But how many here know what is raja's prowess or can they explain them? Its quite shocking to see that some IR fans do not know about raja's strengths and limit him to their own preferences.

Yes we all do love his anandha raagam sort of tunes but that is not what made him a composer of almost godly music standard. It is his overall orchestration that made him like that. Those unimitable guitar touches in en iniya pon nilavey and the unique backgrounds used in the prelude of poongatru of moondram pirai are out of the world and not mentioning the incorporation of jazz as a background to the initial melody in poo poothadu in mumbai express. I once listened to mayanginen solla thayanginen song from naaney raaja naaney mandhiri. Even though the tune was lovely and with just the flute carrying the melody in places the raja touch was missing. It was then i heard Ilaya nila. The tune in ilaya nila if you ask me is as similar as any tune Raja is giving us now including Dhanam but the orchestration makes it so alluring that you just cant get it out of your mind. Hear the combination of the train and flute in chinna thayaval and you would just feel a sudden surge through you at times. One is a natural sound and the other is a sound made by a man-made instrument but they come in hand to make the song as memorable to us as any other raja classic.

It is this touch that carries itself throughout Dhanam. I dunt think anyone could play such energetic patterns for the veenai in the second interlude of kannanukku enna vendum or the flute in unakulley irukkiren. Or should we mention the tribalistic drums in dhanam dhanam and the strange yet fitting rhythm used in kattilukku mattumthaan? Talking about the latter if anybody bothered analysing the song it brings back one of raja's abilities to maintain silence in between the important stanzas to maintain the tune.

Let us remember that it is the accompanying guitar that made machanai paarthengela endearing to the public. It is this uniqueness that we have and are seeing in raaja now despite whatever tunes he gives us. But some fans have forgotten to see this and solely believe raaja is gone. I ask them if anyone else could give en kannanukku a classy bass accompaniment in the prelude other than raaja? For all of them who have just dismissed raaja as the master who has lost his touch, do you all seriously know what is his touch? To say in tamil "Kazhutheyku theriyuma karpoora vaasanai?"